Pen & Sword books - hmmmmm

Just bought the new title 'Two - Man Air Force' about John Godfrey & Don Gentile by Philip Kaplan this week ( luckily, half-price as an ex-review copy... ).

A third of the way through and I'm really irritated. I'm interested in the subject of the book and there's some good information here - but it seems hurriedly-written, hopping backwards and forwards in time, the photos seem arbitrarily-chosen and are in a confusing sequence, there is no bibliography although much of the book feels like 'cut'n'paste,personal interviews are not identified, etc etc etc.

In fact, on occasions I've felt like throwing the book across the room. I just get the feeling that another 6 months work with the material could have produced a more coherent book.

Now, Kaplan has done some good work before and I'm sure has put some effort into this one, and it statrted me thinking that I've had this reaction before when reading books published by Pen & Sword. They also specialize in publishing 'new' books which are previously-published works retitled - non-enthusiasts beware !

Nicely-designed cover, though....

 

Hello Martin,

Thanks for the warning. I was about to buy "Hurricane over the jungle - 120 days fighting the japanese onslaught in 1942 " by Terence Kelly also a Pen & Sword book. Guess I'll have to do some 'research' before actually buying. Thanks.

Regards,

Hollywood Fats

 

Perhaps I should say that I don't mean this as a damning indictment of all P&S books - but at best, I'd say their quality is very variable.

I'd recommend viewing before purchase - especially at full price

 

It's nice to revisit threads with a more positive outlook....

I've just received in the mail Pen & Sword's Christmas 2007 list and I get the feeling that things may be improving with this publisher. The irritating and IMPO misleading re-titled reprints seem to have gone, and there appear to be more, specialized titles ( ie WWII Forums-type suff ! )

P&S remain a non-academic, 'popular' publisher but there are some interesting new titles which I may check out, and it's notable that the catalogue features books from authors who have made valued contributions to this Forum ( eg Paul Reed, Richard Hargreaves ).

Also ( along with just about every other retailer this Christmas ) they are offering some discount deals.

Pen and Sword Books

 

Yes, dropped through my letterbox this morning Martin. Some good stuff!